Since the entire tropical zone receives the rays of the sun more directly than areas in higher latitudes, the average annual temperature of the tropics is higher and the seasonal change of temperature is less than in other zones.

Such population growth has led to deforestation of the tropical forest, which is thought to contribute to the greenhouse effect and global warming, and to the elimination of numerous unique species.

The tropics are the geographic region of the Earth centered on the equator and limited in latitude by the two tropics: the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere.

Tropical plants and animals are those species native to the tropics.

Tropical is also sometimes used in a general sense of a place that is warm and moist year-round, often with the sense of lush vegetation.

The tropics are the source of a majority of the planet's biodiversity, according to a new study, underscoring the need to preserve tropical forests, reefs and other ecosystems around the world.

Valentine noted that greater tropical diversity has been documented for nearly all ecosystems, ranging from the deep sea, open ocean and continental shelf to terrestrial forests, grasslands and wetlands, and among plants, fungi, invertebrates and vertebrates.

As expected, the lineages of tropical genera are younger than those at higher latitudes, reflecting the fact that the lineages originated in the tropics but took a while to migrate northward.

The Tropic of Cancer (cancer (â) is Latin for crab), one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth, is the parallel of latitude that lies 23Â° 26 22 north of the Equator.

Tropicaldiseases are infectiousdiseases that either occur uniquely in tropical and subtropical regions (which is rare) or, more commonly, are either more widespread in the tropics or more difficult to prevent or control.

If the tropics are a cause or a trigger of climate change then their role becomes critical, according to Lea, and even if the tropics are an amplifier of changes that started elsewhere, then it is still scientifically important to understand how they play that role.

Humid tropics are the climatic regions where mean monthly temperatures are consistently high and exceed 18°C throughout the year, and where rainfall exceeds evapotranspiration for at least 270 days in a year (Salati et al., 1983; CGIAR, 1990a; Lugo and Brown, 1991).

The most predominant vegetation of the humid tropics consists of TRF in the lowlands, moist deciduous forest in regions with a pronounced dry season, and montane forest in the high lands (Holdridge, 1967).

In the humid tropics of Africa and America and parts of southeast Asia, traditional systems are based on shifting cultivation and bush fallow rotation (Okigbo and Greenland, 1976; Ruthenberg, 1980), on extractive use of native forest (Fearniside, 1983; Asabere, 1987), or on traditional agroforestry systems (Denevan et al., 1984; Gomez-Pompct, 1987a, b).

www.unu.edu /unupress/unupbooks/uu27se/uu27se04.htm (2953 words)

Young Students Learning Library: TROPICS@ HighBeam Research(Site not responding. Last check: )

The tropics are a generally warm zone encircling the center of the Earth and stretching about 1,600 miles (2,575 km) north and south of the equator.

The tropics are bordered by two other imaginary lines--the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere.

The Tropic of Cancer is 23 degrees and 27 minutes north of the equator, while the Tropic of Capricorn is 23 degrees and 27 minutes...

The influence of the tropics on the Earth'sclimate, as well as the sensitivity of the tropics to a global climate warming (and variations in the occurrence and intensity of El Niño/La Niña events and monsoons), are issues of growing concern.

However, recent evidence of past tropicalclimate conditions, based on high-resolution deep-sea sediment cores and ice cores from tropical mountain glaciers, reveal extensive cooling in the tropics during the last ice age, on the order of 4-5°C in the oceanic upwelling areas of the eastern equatorial Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans.

Presently, evidence of a significant climate warming in the tropics during the second half of the 20th century, is rapidly accumulating.

The Tropics is dedicated to providing a permanent home to parrots who have been given up for many different reasons: physical problems, death of an owner, psychological problems, handicaps, whatever.

Never having been around exotic birds before volunteering at The Tropics, I was not familiar with their temperaments nor their capacities for inflicting some serious harm to humans that they dont like.

I know that he is a permanent resident of The Tropics (as are all the birds there), but that doesnt stop me from coveting him.

The Wet Tropics rainforests contain an almost complete record of the major stages in the evolution of plant life on earth.

The Wet Tropics is home to 30 per cent of Australia's marsupial species, 58 per cent of its bat species, 26 per cent of its frog species, 17 per cent of its reptile species, 58 per cent of the butterfly species and 48 per cent of its bird species.

Tracey, J. 1982, The Vegetation of the Humid Tropical Region of North Queensland, CSIRO, Melbourne.

A census of all the plants and animals around the world would reveal that species richness is uneven: it is highest in the tropics, the regions of Earth near the equator, and lower the closer one goes toward the planet's poles.

The researchers found that tropical plants had more than twice the rate of base substitution compared to their temperate cousins.

Numbers for tropical species are in bold, while numbers for temperate species are not.

www.livescience.com /animalworld/060501_tropics_evo.html (455 words)

tropics on Encyclopedia.com(Site not responding. Last check: )

A symphony in words: `Anna in the Tropics' shimmers with magical energy.

A sign points the way to "The Tropics," a three-minute walk down a wooded path from the nearest electricty or water at Wellspring resort in Washington.

A small coca farmer harvests coca leaves in the Bolivian tropics June 22, 2002.

The Northern tropics (northern hemisphere) line is called the Tropic of Capricorn at 23.5 degrees North latitude and the southerntropics (southern hemisphere) is called the Tropic of Cancer at 23.5 degrees South latitude.

At the fringes of the Tropics and past the tropics, the change in seasons is more visible.

TROPICS BILLS ITSELF AS A FINE dining establishment, and has an ambitious menu, offering everything from standard fare like shrimp cocktail, grilled chicken breast and fettuccine Bolognese, to the more exotic African pheasant, farm-raised Australian red deer and ostrich filet.

Cheesecakes are not known as light desserts, but Tropic’s apple cheesecake, with fresh apples in it and a cinnamon and walnut topping, is smooth and creamy, and made on the premises.

www.expressgaynews.com /print.cfm?content_id=814 (624 words)

Greater diversity of life in tropics - USATODAY.com(Site not responding. Last check: )

About three-quarters of today's types of these creatures originated in the tropics and spread outward toward the poles, while only one-quarter originated at higher latitudes, they report in Friday's edition of the journal Science.

"The tropics are the engine for global biodiversity," added co-author Kaustuv Roy, associate professor of biology at the University of California, San Diego.

Researchers have found that tropical areas like the Galapagos are particularly good at originating new species and keeping them alive.

For many years, it was thought that tropical rainforests were essentially unaffected by climate change Now studies are showing that not only were they changed during past events like ice ages, but some areas are being affected right now by warming.

In other parts of the tropics, even in places that have been undisturbed for more than 4500 years, the rise in atmospheric CO2 appears to be changing the composition of the forest.

They protect and support the lives of millions of people around the tropical zones, and are a font of wealth from fishing and recreation.

Caliente tropics Resort in Palm Springs, California re-opened in March 2001 after an extensive $2.2 million renovation and is one of the last and greatest examples of the classic Polynesian-styled motor hotels of the 60s.

Built in 1963 and opened in 1964, by Ken Kimes, Sr., the tropics was number 38 out of 45 motels Kimes developed in the U.S. Five of the motels were Polynesian styled.

The tropics was to the south end of Palm Springs what the Racquet Club had been to the north end.

You'll observe from the many viewing areas how gorillas are members of a very complex social group, and that the unique living habitat of Gorilla Tropics greatly helps to encourage their natural behavior.

Many of the plants in Gorilla Tropics are native to Africa, including the African tulip tree, hibiscus, and giant bird-of-paradise.

You'll observe from the many viewing areas how gorillas are members of a very complex social group, and that the unique living habitat of Gorilla Tropics greatly helps to encourage their natural behavior.

Many of the plants in Gorilla Tropics are native to Africa, including the African tulip tree, hibiscus, and giant bird-of-paradise.

The San Diego Zoo was one of the first zoos to exhibit the highly endangered bonobos, or pygmy chimps, and we currently have the largest colony of bonobos in zoos.

Tropic birds are characterized by pairs of streaming central tail feathers, which may be as long...

tropical forest with luxuriant, tangled, impenetrable vegetation, generally teeming with wildlife; popularly associated with the tropics, such conditions are actually found only when the tree canopy...

Some tunicates, especially in the tropics, live symbiotically with unicellular plants and blue-green algae that may provide them with a supply...

New species of birds and mammals evolve faster at high latitudes than in the tropics, but they also go extinct faster, a new study suggests.

Yet, there are more than 10 times more species in the tropics than in the Arctic, and several times as many more species in the tropics than in temperate zones.

One study last year found that evolution is actually occurring faster in the tropics than at high latitudes, at least for plants, while another that found evolution rates are equivalent in tropic and temperate environments, at least for tree frogs.